Vladimir Nabokov

During his 20-year stay in the United States (1940–1960), Vladimir Nabokov enjoyed a remarkable friendship with the literary critic Edmund Wilson. The two giants had much in common: Nabokov the Russian and Wilson the Russophile; both men pedantic and exacting in their literary standards; each swift to judge and slow to retract. They developed a warm and mutual affinity, addressing their letters, "Dear Bunny" and "Dear Volodya." Wilson was an editor of The New Yorker and, before that, The New Republic, and served as Nabokov's unofficial literary agent, connecting him with publishers, helping him land articles and acting as all-around confidant and consigliere....